AUBURN HILLS, Michigan (AFP) - Reigning champion Detroit spoiled National Basketball Association scoring leader Tracy McGrady's debut alongside star center Yao Ming with Houston, downing the Rockets 87-79 here.
Rasheed Wallace scored 11 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter to lift the Pistons to victory in the NBA season opener for both clubs.
A sellout crowd of 22,076 saw the Pistons raise a championship banner and received rings commemorating their stunning victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in last June's NBA Finals.
"We would have looked like jackasses if we had come out and lost this game," Wallace said.
Chauncey Billups scored 17 points while Ben Wallace and Richard Hamilton each added 15 points for the Pistons, who opened the fourth quarter with a 9-2 run sparked by three-pointers from Wallace, Billups and Tayshaun Prince.
Detroit had gone 1-of-9 from 3-point range before sinking five shots in a row from beyond the arc. Wallace scored six of Detroit's last eight points to seal the triumph.
"We were not doing fundamental things tonight and it showed," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "They were great down the stretch. When you let up 28 points in the fourth quarter, it's not good."
Yao was hampered by an injured left elbow. The Chinese sensation pulled down 10 rebounds but managed only seven points on 2-of-9 shooting.
"Even though I am not a lefthanded shooter, my injury still got to me," Yao said. "Their defense is why they are champions. It seems as though they took control of us inside and that was the deciding factor."
Defensively, the Pistons shut down McGrady and Yao, who both struggled with early foul trouble.
"We're just a scrappy group of guys," Wallace said. "If you're picking a team and you have Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, you're going to be pretty good. But we just kept fighting. And I thought our defense in the second half was a good start."
McGrady scored 15 of his team-high 18 points in the second half, but the two-time defending NBA scoring champion obtained from Orlando in an off-season trade could not solve the tenacious Detroit defense.
"Some nights are like that," McGrady said. "It's the first game of the season and I couldn't get anything going in the first half. Give them credit. They play D. That's why they won a championship."
Forward Antonio McDyess, making his debut with the Pistons, was ejected with 5:51 remaining in the second period after he punted the ball into the stands.
11/03/2004 - 07:46 GMT - AFP